Telephone-bracket.



H. B. ROBERTS.

TELEPHONE BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAYH. 1916.

Patented May 1, 1917. 2 SHEET$-SHEET l 1mm? Hal/372g mm 2150116 13115 w a V i H. B. ROBERTS.

' TELEPHONE BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAYH, 191s.

Patented May 1, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Hana; \Ewmbm Rdcmris 1% MM .flfimcvzegs HARRY B. ROBERTS, or HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

TELEPHONE-BRACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1917.

Application filed May 11, 1916. Serial No. 96,758.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY B. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephone- Brackets, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to extensible brackets for supporting telephones and the like. Various schemes have heretofore been proposed for providing supporting brackets for telephones and the like which shall be adjustable as to height. These devices have generally proven unsatisfactory due to inherent mechanical weakness or have been too cumbersome or intricate to come into general use.

My invention aims to provide an improved extensible bracket for supporting telephone instruments, electric lights and the like, which bracket shall be adjustable as to height and which shall have a plurality of relatively stationary positions from which and into which it is easily and readily movable. It is the further object of my inven tion to provide improved means for attaching the bracket to the telephone instrument.

Other incidental objects will be apparent from the following description.

I secure the above function of adjustability with fixed stop or adjustment positions by combining with a lazy tongs mechanism a mechanism which, in the art, is termed a full stroke mechanism.

I consider the employment of the full stroke mechanism to be new in the matter of adjustable supports and hence I desire not to be limited to the particular form and dimensions of the device which I have shown or to the particular forms of the elements which make up the combination.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the present specification I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bracket in extended position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating the part of the bracket in re tracted or collapsed position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the attaching post mechanism Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating the different positions to which the bracket may be moved;

Fig. 7 illustrates the operation of a curved link which forms a part of the full stroke mechanism;

Fig. 8 illustrates a modification of the bracket; and

Fig. 9 illustrates a further modification.

The bracket which I have shown comprises a lazy tong 1 made up of a number of links 2 of substantially equal lengths. The end links 8 and 4are of equal length and are joined by short connections 5 and 6 to the respective abutments. The rear end link 7 is of a special configuration, as will be described later. The front end of the lazy tong is connected to a plate 8 which is secured to the cylinder 9 of the telephone set. The lower edge of the plate 8 is provided with a notch 10 through which passes a metal band 11. The outer ends of the band 11 embrace the cylinder 9 of the telephone. A. rivet 12 holds the band 11 in place upon the plate 8. At its upper end the plate 8 is cut away to lighten the same and to provide means for attaching the holding means for the upper end of the telephone cylinder 9. As shown in Fig. 4, a pair of wire gripping arms 18 and 14 have their inner ends connected to the plate 8. That is to say, the inner ends of the wire gripping members 13 and 14 project through the plate and are riveted upon the opposite side. A U-shaped bracket 15 shown in end elevation in Fig. 3 is riveted to the plate 8 and forms suitable means for gripping the arms 13 and 14 and holding the same in position to engage the cylinder 9 of the telephone. A screw pin 16 is threaded into the plate above the arms 18 and 14, to prevent the gripping arms 13 and 14 from being tilted upward out of engage ment with the bracket 15 when the telephone is raised. It will be noted that the plate 8 is cut away at 17 in order to make room for the hand of the user and to make a lighter structure.

At the inner end of the lazy tongs 1 the links 6 and 7 pass between the ends 18 and 19 of a metal plate which embraces the vertical pin or shaft 20. A suitable spacing block 21 lies between the two sides 18 and 19 of the attaching plate and this plate is secured to the vertical shaft- 20 by means of the screws 23 and 24. The vertical shaft 20 has a bearing in a bracket 25 which may be attached to the wall or to any desired object. The shaft 20 is preferably provided with circumferential grooves and the bracket 25 provided with a set screw 26, the end of which is adapted to enter the grooves and hold the entire device in elevated position.

The link 6 is pinned between the plates 18 and 19 by a suitable pin or screw 27. The link 7 which has a lower curved end 28 is provided with a slot 29. A pin 30 is pivoted in the plates 18 and 19 and passes through the slot 29 and has a pawl 35 lying between the plates 18 and 19 in the slot 29. The one edge of the slot 29 is provided with a plurality of steps 31, 32 and 33 which form a ratchet and an additional step or position 34 which operates to disengage the pawl member 35 from the ratchet edge. The pin 30 is connected at its outer endto an arm 36 which holds the pawl 35 in predetermined position. The weight of the arm 36 tends to throw the pawl 35 into the ratchet except when the arm 36 is moved into position to engage the spring 37 which is fastened to the plate 19. A spring such as shown at 38 in Fig. 8 may be employed where the weight of the arm 36 is insufficient for positive op eration. When the arm 36 is in the down position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 it rests upon a suitable pin 39 which prevents further movement in the downward direction.

The operation of the device above described is as follows:

The entire lazy tongs arrangement may be swung in a horizontal plane upon the pin 20 so that the telephone may be moved to face in the desired direction. The lazy tongs may then be moved outward horizontally, the pawl member 35 resting at this time in the notch 31 and the arm 36 of the pawl member resting against the pin 39. It

is obvious that as the lazy tong is opened up into the position shown in Fig. 1 the arm 36 which is connected to the pawl member will be raised, but not sufficiently to cause engagement between the arm 36 and the holding spring 37.

If it is desired to raise the outer end of the lazy tongs as for instance to elevate the telephone, this may be accomplished by moving the outer end of the lazy tongs upward to cause the second notch 32 to engage the pawl 35. This position is illustrated in full line in Fig. 6. If it is desired to raise the telephone still higher, a notch 33 may be brought up to engage the pawl 35.

In order to collapse the lazy tongs mech,

anism and bring it backto the normal position as shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary only to pull the lazy tongs to the upper and outermost position so that the end of the slot 29 which is designated by the numeral 34: engages the pawl member 35. The end 34 of the slot is so formed as to cause the pawl 35 to be moved into a vertical position, as is illustrated in connection with the full line position of the link 7 in Fig. 7. As the pawl 35 is moved in the vertical position, the arm 36 is caused to engage the holding spring 37 which, by frictional engagement, holds the arm 36 in the raised position, thereby preventing the pawl 35 from dropping intothe notches of the ratchet mechanism.

It is thus apparent that the ratchet which is formed in link 7 together with the pawl 35 and its holding and controlling mechanism, 3637, constitute a full stroke mechanism. That is to say, the lazy tong may be extended to any intermediate position where its return to normal will be prevented until the movement to the limit of its stroke is made. The pawl then becomes inoperative until the lazy tong is collapsed at which time the notch 31 engages the pawl 35 and moves it about its axis to disengage the controlling arm 36 from the spring 37.

The end of the link 7 in which the slot 29 appears is curved in order to prevent the end from striking against the post 20 or the bracket 25.- It is thus possible to form the slot 29 and have considerable play between the pivot and the links. This feature of the invention may be employed with out the full stroke mechanism, as for instance by employing 'a plain slot 40 and a pin employing a thumb screw 41, for clamping the curved end of the link 7 between the plates 17 and 18.

In the appended claims I employ the term longitudinal position to indicate the position with respect to its distance from the support regardless of its angular position.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a stationary supporting member, a movable engaging member for engaging an object to be supported, an extensible lazy tongs mechanism connected to said engaging member, and to said stationary supporting member, and a full stroke mechanism governing-the movement of said lazy tongs and thereby controlling the position of said movable engaging member with respect to said stationary supporting member.

2. In combination a stationary supporting member, an extensible lazy tongs mechanism having one arm pivoted to said supporting member, means for supporting a telephone or the like on the opposite end of said lazy tongs member and full stroke mechanism connected with said other arm of said lazy tongs member and governing the elevation of said lazy tongs member.

3. In combination a vertical pin, a plate secured to said pin, a lazy tongs member having one arm pivoted to said plate, means on the opposite end of said lazy tongs for supporting a telephone or the like, said plate and said lazy tongs mechanism having cooperating pawl and ratchet mechanism constituting a full stroke mechanism for governing the movement of said lazy tongs mechanism.

a. In combination a lazy tongs mechanism, a plate, one arm of said lazy tongs being pivoted to said plate, another arm of said lazy tongs mechanism being curved and having a slot in said curved portion, a pin secured to said plate and passing through said slot, said pin having means for holding said curved arm in a predetermined position.

5. In combination a bearing pin having a pluralityof grooves cut in the surface of the same, a plate bent about the upper end of said pin and forming a support for a telephone bracket, said plate being secured to said pin, a second plate bent about the lower end of said bearing pin and forming a bearing for said pin and connected parts, and a set screw secured or fastened to said second plate, said set screw being adapted to engage in the grooves in said pin to hold the pin in different elevated positions with respect to said second plate.

6. In combination, a supporting member, an extensible bracket or arm carried by said supporting member and adapted to assume a plurality of positions varying angularly and longitudinally, and means for automatically locking said extensible bracket in a plurality of angular and longitudinal positions, said locking means being released by elevation of said bracket to its extreme angular position and simultaneous movement to its extreme longitudinal position.

7. In combination, a supporting post, a plate clamped to said post, the clamping ends of said plate extending from said post in parallel alinement, a spacing member between said clamping ends, said member having recesses cut therein, pins passed between the clamping ends of said plate and extending through said recesses and a lazy tongs mechanism having pivoted mounting upon said pins.

8. In a lazy tongs mechanism, an arm with a slot cut therein having a plurality of angular notches, a pawl playing in said slot and normally engaging in one of said notches, a camming surface at the end of said slot for rotating said pawl to a release position and detent means for holding said pawl in said release position.

9. In a lazy tongs mechanism, an arm having a longitudinal slot therein, said slot having a plurality of notches cut in the side thereof, a pawl playing in said slot, means for normally casting said pawl into said transverse notches, means for locking said pawl out of engagement with said notches and means for releasing said pawl from said locking means.

10. In combination a supporting member, a lazy tongs mechanism having one arm pivoted to said member, the other arm of said lazy tongs mechanism having a curved slot cut therein to permit of different longitudinal and angular adjustments, a transverse bolt mounted on said supporting member and engaging in said slot and means on said bolt for connecting the slotted lazy tongs arm and the supporting member together to hold the supporting member in the desired position.

11. In combination a lazy tongs, a vertical plate secured thereto, a pair of clamping arms pivoted to said plate, a U-shaped socket having a limb extending on each side of said plate, each limb forming a socket for one of said clamping arms, and a pin projecting through said plate above said sockets.

12. In combination a plate having a notch cut into one edge thereof, a strap lying in said notch, said strap being bent flat against the sides of said plate and a pin passing through said strap and said plate, said strap having extending arms adapted to embrace a telephone stand or the like.

13. In combination a stationary supporting member, a movable engaging member for engaging an object to be supported, an extensible member connected at one end to said engaging member and at its other end to said stationary member, said extensible member being adapted to permit the movable member to be adjusted at different distances from said stationary member irrespective of the relative angular position of said members, and a full stroke mechanism governing the movement of said movable engaging member with respect to said stationary member and for holding said extensible member in adjusted position.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th day of May, A. D. 1916.

HARRY B. ROBERTS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

